Alex Aningalan

Alex Aningalan’s passion for nursing started early, with family. He grew up in the Philippines around a family deeply involved in healthcare and nursing. Some lived and worked around him, and some made their way to the United States, finding further opportunities to advance their careers. Alex’s first introduction to nursing was through his grandmother, an operating room nurse. She tended to him through frequent asthma attacks as a child, and the memory of her compassionate care stayed with him throughout his life. 

Alex looks back fondly on his time growing up and learning about this field from family members both in the Philippines and abroad. “I would hear great stories about their careers [in the US] and how there are endless opportunities for the nursing profession,” he said. These stories planted the seeds that would lead him toward his eventual goal of coming to America as a nurse.

Going into his college years, he knew he wanted a future in healthcare but wasn’t sure about nursing yet. He completed his undergraduate degree in pharmacy, but on a trip to the United States in 2005 he saw firsthand what he terms as, “the vast potential of how it is to be a nurse in the United States.” Back in the Philippines, he returned to school, earning his Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2008. He emerged as class valedictorian and received a clinical competence award. His career path began as a medical-surgical nurse in his home country, but he later moved to the United States chasing a career in long-term care with an eventual promotion into wound care through a close mentor. 

Both caring for wounds and mentoring others deeply resonated with Alex. He now works as a Wound Ostomy Nurse Clinician at a community hospital in New York. “Skin and wounds are the first things that patients and family members will see; it also has an effect on a person's psychosocial being,” he said. “It gives me a sense of fulfillment seeing a wounded patient, or a patient with a new ostomy, come from being desperate and hopeless, to being discharged and feeling independent, able to perform self-care, and regaining their lost sense of self-confidence. That is very fulfilling.”

Because mentorship is part of what led him to this passion, he loves to mentor other nurses and always takes on opportunities to support new nurses like he was supported. “I feel their struggles, as I also struggled at one point. Adjusting to the life of being a nurse is hard—and we all need to nurture our new nurses,” said Alex. 

Years of nursing in New York inspired Alex to continue his nursing education. In 2020, he earned an MSN in Nursing Leadership and Management just as COVID-19 began shutting down the world. And in March 2021, he began his journey towards a Doctorate in Nursing for Healthcare Systems Leadership. While earning his master’s degree, Alex was encouraged to apply as a Nurse Leader for his local Sigma chapter and was inducted last year. He quickly involved himself with the Sigma community, citing his excitement to further involve himself in professional networking, volunteering, and scholarship activities. His love for the nursing community is apparent through his philosophy of investing in individual nurses and the field as a whole. “[Nurses] are the heart of healthcare. They are the first and last contact of patients and families,” said Alex. “They keep the whole system connected.”

It’s clear that the further Alex goes into his nursing career and the more accolades he achieves, the more his passion for the profession shines. He hopes to continue his current trajectory in wound care with sights on future opportunities for leadership and education. His message to other nurses and Sigma members is this: “The hardest thing is to start on a new goal or a new dream. The toughest part is to leave your comfort zone and cross the point of no return. But once you do, always aim for the best, give it your best, and do your best. Sigma is here to support you to become the best nurse you can be.”

Alex Aningalan, MSN, RN, CWON, WCC, DAPWCA, FACCWS, is Wound and Ostomy Nurse Clinician at a community hospital in New York. He is a member of Sigma's Phi Pi Chapter in North America.